Garment with opening for harness

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a garment adapted to be worn over a wearer&#39;s torso, of the type having a lower edge, and of the type having at least one lower slit to give access to a safety harness, such as a seat harness, worn under the garment. The lower slit opens out to the lower edge of the garment.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based upon French Patent Application No. 03.08258, filed Jul. 7, 2003, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference thereto in its entirety and the priority of which is hereby claimed under 35 U.S. C. § 119.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to the field of garments adapted to cover the upper body, such as jackets, pullovers, etc.

More particularly, the invention relates to the field of garments adapted to be worn when practicing activities that also require wearing a safety harness, for example, such as when climbing, performing acrobatic work, or various rescue activities, or activities well above the ground.

2. Description of Background and Relevant Information

A safety harness, particularly a seat harness, is known to used during the aforementioned activities, such as mountain climbing. Such a harness is typically worn around the pelvis and includes an upper belt arranged about the waist, two thigh belts, and a loop, such as a belay loop, connecting the thigh and waist belts and forming a roping point.

In practice, it has been noted that it is not suitable to use a harness when one is wearing a garment, such as a pullover, a windbreaker or a jacket. In reality, either one wears the garment under the harness, making it impossible to remove the garment, or one wears the garment over the harness, in which case the use of the latter is not practical. Indeed, the lower edge of a garment of the aforementioned type is typically arranged below the level of the harness or, in any case, at least below the level of the belay loop so as to properly cover the lower torso. Thus, when a cable (or another material) is fastened to the belay loop, it prevents a correct positioning of the lower edge of the garment, especially when the cable is oriented upwardly. The lower portion of the garment then forms a padding that is awkward, not very practical, and even dangerous since a portion of the fabric can, for example, hinder access to a braking equipment fastened to the belay loop, and even get stuck therein and hinder its operation. Furthermore, because the edge of the garment is thus raised, it cannot be positioned correctly on the body and leaves the latter partly uncovered, or at the least it allows for the passage of air from underneath.

The German Patent Publication DE 198 58 252 describes and shows a jacket that, to resolve this problem partially, has, parallel to a main opening, a slit located in the lower front portion, precisely to allow access to the belay loop of the safety harness without having to raise the lower edge of the jacket.

This construction does resolve the problem of allowing a correct positioning of the jacket in spite of the use of the harness. However, it has the drawback that it is not possible to put the garment on or take it off, for example, when the user is tied in. Indeed, the slit for the passage of the belay loop here is a vertical slit several centimeters high which is closed at its two ends. Therefore, when a cable or an accessory is fastened to the belay loop, which is the case when one actively uses the safety harness, the jacket cannot be removed.

When a climber, for example, is using his/her safety harness to belay a friend who is climbing a route, for example, he/she may want to cover himself or, on the contrary, to uncover himself, without needing to unfasten himself from the climbing rope. Thus, with the prior art jacket, the garment cannot be remove or put on.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to overcome the aforementioned problems, the invention proposes a garment adapted to cover the user's torso, of the type having a lower edge arranged substantially in the area of the user's pelvis, of the type having at least one lower slit that is arranged in a medial portion of the front surface of the garment to give access to a harness worn by the user under the garment, the lower slit opening out in the lower edge of the garment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will become apparent from reading the detailed description that follows, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a first embodiment of a garment according to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows the garment of FIG. 1 in use;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a second embodiment of a garment according to the invention;

FIG. 4 shows the garment of FIG. 2 in use.

The garment 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is a garment adapted to cover a user's torso, or substantially the user's torso. It relates to a type of pullover or sweatshirt that has a main portion 12 provided at its upper edge with a neck opening 14 for the passage of the neck and, preferably, long sleeves 16. The main portion 12 has a lower edge 18 that is adapted to be arranged substantially in the area of the user's pelvis (as can be seen in FIG. 2). In order to facilitate putting the garment on, it has a main opening 20 that opens out in the neck opening. In this example, the opening 20 stops substantially halfway down the garment 10, and therefore it does not allow a complete opening of the garment. Consequently, the garment must be put on over the head. The main opening 20 can be provided with a closure arrangement in the form of buttons, snaps, a Velcro® fastener, or a slide fastener, such as a zipper.

According to the invention, the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has a lower slit 22 that opens out in the lower edge 18 of the garment. In other words, the lower slit 22 is open toward the bottom and splits the lower edge. This lower slit 22 is arranged on the front surface of the garment, such as in the middle thereof, or at least in a medial portion near the middle.

As can be seen in FIG. 2, this slit is thus arranged right in front of the loop 24, such as the belay loop, of a safety harness 26 worn by the user (i.e., a safety harness worn at the pelvis, such as is known as a seat-harness). As such, when the slit 22 is open, one can see the belay loop 24 to which one can then fasten any necessary accessory without causing the lower edge 18 of the jacket to rise.

this lower slit 22 can be provided with a closure, such as buttons, snaps, a slide fastener (such as a zipper), self-fastening strips (such as Velcro®), etc., which allow closing the slit when the garment is worn without a safety harness underneath, or when the user is not using the safety harness that is being worn. The closure is advantageously covered by a flap 28.

Because the slit 22 opens out in the lower edge 18 of the garment, it is possible to put on or take off the garment 10 without unfastening the accessory or accessories mounted on the safety harness 26. This does not prevent being able to close the lower end of the slit down to the area of the belay loop when using the harness.

The second embodiment, shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, is a garment of the same type but which is provided with two slits 22 instead of one. The two slits 22 are arranged parallel one to the other, or substantially parallel, transversely on both sides of the middle of the front surface of the garment, for example, at a distance one from the other which can be between 5 and 20 centimeters, or between approximately 5 centimeters and approximately 20 centimeters.

According to the invention, the two slits 22 open out in the lower edge 18 of the garment, demarcating a flap 30 adapted to be engaged behind the harness 26, in this case, under the upper belt 32 of the harness 26 and under the belay loop 24, leaving the latter completely visible and immediately accessible. These two slits 22 can also be provided with closures, such as of the type(s) mentioned above.

This embodiment therefore allows an even easier access to the harness 26 without uncovering the user's body.

In the two examples shown, the lower slits 22 have a length on the order of 10-20 centimeters. According to particular feature of an embodiment of the invention, the slits extend upwardly up to an area corresponding to the user's abdomen.

In the examples shown, the slits 22 are oriented along a substantially vertical direction, but they can also be provided to be tilted. 

1. A garment adapted to be worn over a wearer's torso, the garment comprising: a lower edge; at least one lower slit opening out to the lower edge, the lower slit giving access to a safety harness worn by the wearer under the garment.
 2. A garment according to claim 1, wherein: the lower slit is arranged in a medial portion of a front surface of the garment.
 3. A garment according to claim 1, wherein: the lower slit extends upwardly from the lower edge up to an area corresponding to the wearer's abdomen.
 4. A garment according to claim 1, wherein: the lower edge, in which the lower slit opens out, is arranged substantially in an area of the wearer's pelvis.
 5. A garment according to claim 1, wherein: the lower slit extends along a generally vertical direction.
 6. A garment according to claim 1, wherein: the lower slit includes a closure.
 7. A garment according to claim 6, wherein: the closure comprises a slide fastener.
 8. A garment according to claim 1, wherein: the at least one lower slit comprises two lower slits opening out to the lower edge of the garment; the two lower slits demarcate a flap adapted to be engaged behind the safety harness under an element for tying in to the safety harness. 